Feb. 20, 2005, 9:15PM
BOTTLE-NECK BLUES
Houston's not better, LA's worse
Galleria-area snarl booted off AAA's worst list
By RAD SALLEE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Houston drivers may not notice much difference, but the city no longer holds a place on AAA's national list of 10 really annoying traffic bottlenecks.
When it last came out in 2000, the list included the epic confluence of the Southwest Freeway and West Loop near the Galleria, which holds the unofficial title of Texas' busiest interchange.
It is being rebuilt, with continuous frontage roads and redesigned connector ramps that will give some relief. But that's not why it missed the cut.
"The only reason you weren't on the list is that we had to cite something in Los Angeles that was a lot worse," said AAA spokesman Montill Williams. Texas' best candidate was bumped by the interchange of U.S. 101 (Ventura Freeway) and Interstate 405 in the San Fernando Valley north of downtown LA.
"That one is a monster," Williams said. The evening rush lasts about five hours.
Williams said the current list was drawn up "to remind Congress (members) they really need to pass that transportation funding bill." Citizens can remind their representative or senator by logging on to www.aaapublicaffairs.com and e-mailing a "legislative alert."
Not all these chokepoints carry mega-loads of traffic. Some cause just as big a headache by combining moderately high traffic counts with inadequate capacity or access problems.
They are:
•Atlanta: I-75 at I-85. 340,000 cars a day through downtown and midtown.
•Boston: I-93, the central artery and "Big Dig," a mammoth new expressway involving several downtown tunnels and bridges. More than 200,000 cars a day.
•Chicago: I-88 at Eisenhower Expressway. A mere 77,000 cars a day, but the road narrows to a single lane.
•Dallas: I-35 at I-30, the downtown Mix Master and Canyon. 200,000 cars a day.
•Los Angeles: I-710 to Long Beach. 47,000 trucks a day.
•Salt Lake City: I-15 and SR-92. Lakes on one side and mountains on the other prompt explosive growth, and traffic is expected to triple in about five years.
•New York City: George Washington Bridge exit north to Major Deegan Expressway. Trucks must cross two lanes of a spiral ramp to reach the bridge's upper level, causing more than six hours of daily traffic jams.
•Seattle: If the old floating bridge over Lake Washington on SR 520 were damaged, travel time from Redmond and nearby suburbs would double to nearly an hour.
•Washington: I-495 at I-270, one of the most congested sections of the Capitol Beltway.
But Williams said Houston's Southwest Freeway-West Loop interchange can hold its own with any of these: "It's stop and go for five or six hours, with more than 330,000 vehicles a day going through there."
A list of America's 24 worst bottlenecks published last year by the American Highway Users Alliance included two other Houston interchanges but not that one.
The West Loop-Katy Freeway interchange (295,000 cars), which is also being rebuilt, was ranked second, and the Gulf Freeway-Eastex Freeway interchange (250,000 cars) downtown was 20th. No. 1 was US 101-I-405 in Los Angeles.
BOTTLE-NECK BLUES
Houston's not better, LA's worse
Galleria-area snarl booted off AAA's worst list
By RAD SALLEE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Houston drivers may not notice much difference, but the city no longer holds a place on AAA's national list of 10 really annoying traffic bottlenecks.
When it last came out in 2000, the list included the epic confluence of the Southwest Freeway and West Loop near the Galleria, which holds the unofficial title of Texas' busiest interchange.
It is being rebuilt, with continuous frontage roads and redesigned connector ramps that will give some relief. But that's not why it missed the cut.
"The only reason you weren't on the list is that we had to cite something in Los Angeles that was a lot worse," said AAA spokesman Montill Williams. Texas' best candidate was bumped by the interchange of U.S. 101 (Ventura Freeway) and Interstate 405 in the San Fernando Valley north of downtown LA.
"That one is a monster," Williams said. The evening rush lasts about five hours.
Williams said the current list was drawn up "to remind Congress (members) they really need to pass that transportation funding bill." Citizens can remind their representative or senator by logging on to www.aaapublicaffairs.com and e-mailing a "legislative alert."
Not all these chokepoints carry mega-loads of traffic. Some cause just as big a headache by combining moderately high traffic counts with inadequate capacity or access problems.
They are:
•Atlanta: I-75 at I-85. 340,000 cars a day through downtown and midtown.
•Boston: I-93, the central artery and "Big Dig," a mammoth new expressway involving several downtown tunnels and bridges. More than 200,000 cars a day.
•Chicago: I-88 at Eisenhower Expressway. A mere 77,000 cars a day, but the road narrows to a single lane.
•Dallas: I-35 at I-30, the downtown Mix Master and Canyon. 200,000 cars a day.
•Los Angeles: I-710 to Long Beach. 47,000 trucks a day.
•Salt Lake City: I-15 and SR-92. Lakes on one side and mountains on the other prompt explosive growth, and traffic is expected to triple in about five years.
•New York City: George Washington Bridge exit north to Major Deegan Expressway. Trucks must cross two lanes of a spiral ramp to reach the bridge's upper level, causing more than six hours of daily traffic jams.
•Seattle: If the old floating bridge over Lake Washington on SR 520 were damaged, travel time from Redmond and nearby suburbs would double to nearly an hour.
•Washington: I-495 at I-270, one of the most congested sections of the Capitol Beltway.
But Williams said Houston's Southwest Freeway-West Loop interchange can hold its own with any of these: "It's stop and go for five or six hours, with more than 330,000 vehicles a day going through there."
A list of America's 24 worst bottlenecks published last year by the American Highway Users Alliance included two other Houston interchanges but not that one.
The West Loop-Katy Freeway interchange (295,000 cars), which is also being rebuilt, was ranked second, and the Gulf Freeway-Eastex Freeway interchange (250,000 cars) downtown was 20th. No. 1 was US 101-I-405 in Los Angeles.
I've learned to live with the traffic. 
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